Roses & Stars Over Italy: New Version
by tehshogundude
Summary: Yusei and Aki trying to confess to each other while on their trip to Italy together. NOTE: This has been heavily changed from the original version! Everything has been improved and is up to par with my current level of writing. Nudity near the end.


Roses & Stars in Italy 5/5/12

**A/N: Some of you might be curious as to what is going on. Well ever since I read Scooby82101's reedits of Story of Our Lives (Which you should definitely read!) it made me want to look back at Roses & Stars. You see, I still love the idea of Roses & Stars, Yusei and Aki going to Italy...the problem was the story was a complete disaster in my opinion. I'll admit back then I was a little proud of my first stories but looking back now at the first three they are complete messes. Horrible usage of POVs, little to no detail, bland dialogue, bad logic, bland characters and a horrible rushed feelings throughout. While I love the fact it inspired that artwork by Iluvjesse and helped me get started writing, I still shudder when I think of my first three stories. The worst part is that because these are my first three and still most popular, people who have not heard of me will read those first and assume my later stories are the same...BUT this is where it all changes.**

**For you see, this reedit will not just fix Roses and Stars, but change the first three stories as well! I will make it so that you can read this one and then move to **_**Jack Atlas Shrugged **_**(My first decent story which I'll admit has big problems but I love the final two chapters of it). Now I understand some are going to be like "But I love those three stories" to which I say good because these will be better (Let's avoid any George Lucas Star Wars jokes because these changes are actually needed). Also in case you're wondering, yes the three stories will be deleted, sorry but this is what has to happen. Now because I bet some of you when you are going to comment will just say "bring back old ones" before even reading the story, skipping over the description explaining why, Taking a cue from Scooby please before you comment leave the phrase "Stay fresh, Cheese bags!" in the beginning (don't get the reference? Look it up) **

**Oh and before you start, this story takes place a week or two, maybe more, after the WRGP; HOWEVER, the divine temple had not appeared so Bruno is still alive, so that tackled one of the flaws with the original story, forgetting to tell that this is kind of an AU.**

The clock was ticking in living room alone. No other sound could be heard throughout the home of Team 5D's. Most electronics were off, not a lot of sound came from outside and even most of the team was out and about doing their daily errands or other business, save for one. A spiky black haired young man sat in a chair in the middle of the room alone. He was not even doing anything really, just sitting down; he did not even look like he was relaxing. This man was Yusei Fudo.

Normally people when they have an opportunity to just relax like this they fully embrace it. Yusei however had never been quite used to relaxation. Most of the days when he had a break, he would be practicing for his dueling, testing his D-wheel, tuning his D-wheel, normally he had something to do! But everyone had decided that after the WRGP they needed a break and set up a no turbo dueling or even standing up duel for a month with everyone wanting to relax. The only person who didn't was yusei himself. He had used most of his break to in fact, prepare himself for duels and such tuning up his D-wheel until every resource he had such as fuel, wax and such were gone, strategizing until he could not think of anymore and digging through his card-trunk for anything to possibly add or subtract. As much as he tried to relax, he simply could not. Everyone in the house found something to do at least. Crow had been helping at the orphanage as usual, Bruno had no problems relaxing at the beach and Aki had been using the vacation to have fun in the sun.

That's right, Aki Izayoi was living with Yusei and the remaining members who still lived in the house. The reason being was because her apartment manager found out about her Black rose Witch persona and stupidly forgot she had long since discarded that persona. As much as Yusei and his friends tried to defend Aki, he still refused her as much as they tried. However Yusei offered her to stay at his home and she was more than happy to accept his invitation. Yusei was glad to have another one of his closest friends live with him, especially someone as interesting to Yusei as Aki.

Yusei heard the doorbell rang and sighed in relief at the prospect of something to do. He got up and rushed over to the door. He opened it only to see no one there but looking to his left he sees a mailbox full of things. He took the many pieces of paper to the small kitchen nearby and laid them down.

"Let's see here, bill, bill, junk, junk, voucher for contest to win a year's supply of chocolate? Don't even eat sweets so junk, Crow's subscription to Playboy...hold on." Yusei looked at the last thing in the mail pile. It was an envelope with the name Jack Atlas. Normally Jack communicated with Yusei through email or face to face so why mail? Yusei ripped open the envelope and found a note inside. He unfolded the note and read it.

**Hey Yusei,**

**I got something for ya, two tickets to Italy! Want to know why? Because I am so bloody awesome! No in actuality, I heard how bored you've been recently so I got these for you, turns out for my duel in Italy before vacation I got some extra tickets. I just rescheduled them for you, please put them to good use, ;) **

**Jack Atlas**

The turbo duelist looked back in the envelope to indeed see two tickets to Italy...TWO. He wondered who was the other for and looked at it to see the name, Aki Izayoi. He was quite frankly surprised to see this, why would Jack make a second ticket for Aki? Was it a joke? Did he confuse some of Yusei's interest in Aki for romance?

Because if that is the case than he was kind of right.

While the main reason let Aki stay with him was because she was a great friend and he was also ready to help anyone in need but also because he was interested in her romantically as well. It had been slowly building up since the two became friends, he loved a lot about her, her beautiful looks, her kind but also strong personality, the fact that she is so independent but knows when to ask for help, everything about her! He thought by letting her stay than he could decide if his feelings were just mutual or deeper than that. And thru out it all, he discovered they had been. It was not just some things like him being happy when she is happy but when she compliments him, he genuinely feels thankful, always ready to help her and even faintly blushes at some compliments from her. She was a great strategist in dueling and the real world but at the same time fun to be around. She was tough and could hold her own in a real fight but was still gentle and sweet when things were calm. Unfortunately for Yusei he was not really the best at talking either especially about something like this. How was he supposed to tell her that he possibly loves her? Yusei looked back at the tickets and said

"Maybe this will be my chance..."

Just then, the door to the home was opened so quickly that it surprised the normally iron faced man a little. He looked through the little window from the kitchen that looked into the living room to see burgundy haired woman walked through the door.

"Hey Yusei, I'm back!" He would recognize that voice anywhere; it was the voice of Aki Izayoi. Yusei folded the tickets up to fit inside his pocket to hide them from Aki. She put her bags on the couch and walked towards the kitchen.

"So Aki how was your day?" Aki turned to him smiling.

"I just had a wonderful day at my job, I got a raise today so I bought some things for myself while at that anime shop nearby." All of the members of team 5Ds while they were not dueling took up regular jobs such as Yusei fixing things, Crow taking a part time job at the pet shop which he used his pay to help buy things for the orphans and Aki at a call center etc. There were only so many duels in the world as much as Yusei would love it and even then were not pro duelists like Jack yet sadly. Then the cat eyed duelist began to look at Yusei's pocket confused, the tickets were prodding out.

"Say Yusei, what's that in your pocket?" He looked down towards his pocket and noticed he put the tickets in rather poorly.

"Oh they are just some old candy wrappers I found on the floor earlier." Aki hunched her eye brows and her smile disappeared as if she did not believe him. And it was enough to get the truth out of Yusei. He took them out of the pocket and slid them over to her nervously. She unfolded and read the tickets her eyes widened like a cat as she did and put her hand over her mouth in surprise. She tilted her head up to make sure it was not a dream.

"Tickets to Italy... for you and me...I...Why would you want to hide this from me?" Yusei gulped nervously. While he wanted to say "Because I love you and Jack knew that to he got these tickets for us." But he restrained himself as much as he would like to confess to her.

"Well uh...well I thought it would be a nice surprise and Jack told me he had extra free tickets from his duel tour in Italy so I asked if he could give two to us for a private trip together." Aki looked at him surprised again, smiling after she did.

"Wow this is...awesome and I would love to go to Italy with you." Yusei's eyes widened in surprise.

"Really?" Aki nodded her head.

"Yep, I've always wanted to go to Italy, I keep hearing how beautiful it is. It will be great to get away from the usual city for a while, what do you think?" She said as she handed back the tickets to the Raven haired man. He held them up like duel monster cards, making Aki giggle a little.

"It will be nice, now it says here that we have to leave in three days in the morning, you going to be ready by that time?"

"More than ready, in fact I'll start packing right now." Aki rushed upstairs excitedly with Yusei chuckling at her excitement.

"I can tell this is going to be interesting." Yusei thought to himself.

A couple hours later, Aki was upstairs packing her suitcase in excitement. Packing up various pieces of clothes and other stuff such as electronics inside it. Aki however had her mind on other things.

"I wonder what I'm going to do with Yusei when we get there? We will go to Milan in three days but we don't really have anywhere to from there. We could go to Rome but then again it would be nice to get away from the city for a while. I guess we'll find out when we get there. But most important...at least to me...How will I tell him that I...love him."

Yes Aki was in love with Yusei in fact when he offered her the chance to stay with him she was happy to as she began to have feelings for him ever since she started to know him more and more as a friend. Eventually she began to feel like she actually loved him and she was always trying to find ways to find ways to talk to him about it. However, like anyone in this kind of situation they were also somewhat afraid to ask it. How do you tell someone this kind of thing, plus it be kind of awkward when you kind of oh say, hated him at one point and almost injured him, just saying.

When she was done she stretched her arms, she looked at the clock, it was very late at night and she certainly felt like it was. She got in her nightwear and got inside her bed. While asleep like anyone with a vacation coming up she started to dream about being in Italy with Yusei. Like all dreams Italy is fantasized to a degree where the sun is always shining, the buildings and statues are pristine clean but then again emotions are in control of our dreams. She wanted to feel this kind of world with Yusei and even though Italy might be different than what she expects, she won't care as long as she feels what the world is like with Yusei. She smiled in her sleep that night.

The next day they did not chat with each other much and when they did they just gave a sweet smile and went back to their business. The quiet before the storm as some would say. They had to focus on their jobs and preparations such as Aki informing her boss, Yusei putting up a sign outside the garage informing that he won't be there etc. They were so tired from the work and they needed to get to sleep early because they had to leave early the next day and the flight would take about 7-11 hours. They wanted to conserve as much as their energy of their can because surprisingly, sitting on a chair for 7 can be pretty tiring.

The morning after, they woke up at 6 in the morning and had breakfast even with the darkness still outside. They brought their bags downstairs, waiting for the taxi to come pick them up. The two were sitting in awkward silence, still tired. However before either one of them could even say anything the taxi had arrived with the two rushing to get to the cab. Everything was moving at a surprisingly fast pace, trying to get to the airport. While on the way there, the two were too tired to talk that much to each other but the taxi driver was happy with talking away about various celebrities and one hit wonder musicians who have not been relevant or notable for years who came into their cab. They thought to themselves that it was going to be a looooooong car ride.

Thankfully the car ride was not as long as they first anticipated. After thanking the taxi-man and paying him they finally got inside. When they got inside they saw many people coming in and leaving for their summer vacations. The two got in line and waited their turn which did not take terribly long thankfully. Yusei went up to the front desk.

"Hi I am Yusei Fudo, I am leaving for Milan's Malpensa airport with Aki Izayoi." The woman at the desk looked at the two before gaining a sweet smile.

"Okay just give me your passports and you and your girlfriend will be on your way." The duelists blushed at her title for them but were too much in a rush to correct her. Yusei handed the woman the passports and she typed things on the computer, all the while Yusei was thinking about if the two really did look like boyfriend and girlfriend to people around them. Yusei smiled lightly at the very thought,

'_If only it were true'_, he thought.

"Sir you may go now." Yusei snapped back into reality, Aki giggling at his spacing and the two were back on their way.

After going through security and finding their gate they were finally one there way there. They found two empty seats and collapsed on them. They had 30-45 minutes before they would be able to board the plane so they just sat there tired. For a while they just sat there on their Phones passing the time watching YouTube videos. While Yusei and Aki wanted to chat with each other, they were both not in the mood too after getting through all security and such. Normally the airport journey is not the most friendly or romantic atmosphere.

While sitting there, Aki put away her phone getting sick of the screen. She looked around for anything of interest, anything at all. And then...

"Sherry?" Aki shouted across the room in joy. A woman turned around revealing her golden long hair and face which could only belong to Sherry Leblanc. She smiled when she saw her and Yusei tilted his head up and invited her over. However Aki noticed that another person was with her. A man with blue hair was with there.

"Bruno?" Yusei asked surprised. The man turned to Yusei smiling.

"So Sherry what are you doing back?" Sherry chuckled at Aki's eagerness.

"Well recently I thought it would be fun to come back and visit. Plus there is a small tournament coming up that I am going to sign up for. So you two are going to Italy?"

"Yep, Jack gave us some spare tickets so we thought we'd use them now." Aki replied

"I recommend going to zee Rugarlo area, it's a long drive but trust me, it's worth it." Aki nodded

"But wait you said Jack gave you the tickets?" Yusei replied yes with Sherry and Bruno looking at each other nervously.

"Why what's wrong?" The raven-head asked.

"Well the thing is...Carly and Jack have not been doing well recently. They have money but the thing is that Jack..." Bruno tried to say.

"Jack has been having anger and attitude problems. While on ze way here I had to stop in Italy, I saw them having a loud argument at the airport. Vhen I walked over to talk to Carly she told me it's been happening a lot." Sherry said grimly.

"Oh wow...that sucks..." Aki replied.

"Yeah...but things like this do happen, hopefully things will change."

"Yeah...what do you think Yusei?" Aki asked Yusei but after she said it, she noticed Yusei looked shocked. Aki was confused and followed Yusei's eyes to where he was looking. When she was staring at the same spot, eyes widened. Sherry's hand was interlocked with another, the hand of Bruno.

"So wait, you guys are?" Aki asked. Sherry looked away from them embarrassed.

Bruno smiled at Sherry's blush "Well after the WRGP we started video chatting and realized we had a lot more in common than we first thought so I suggested when I came back that we give dating a try. And so far..." Bruno cuddled up next to Sherry making her a little mad. "I think it's working out great." Sherry chuckled lightly at Bruno's kind yet goofy approach. She knew that as much as it could be embarrassing, she still was amused by Bruno's lighthearted nature and has fun with him and was still happy to be dating him despite how embarrassing it could be.

"But wait didn't you just get back?" Yusei asked.

The blue haired man chuckled "Actually there is a really nice Italian place nearby which has great food and feels like you're going to a really nice restaurant." The raven haired duelist rubbed his chin in interest.

"Maybe we should give that a shot A..." Yusei tried to say before the intercom came on.

"ATTENTION FLYERS! FLIGHT 263 TO MILAN IS NOW BOARDING."

'_Shoot!' _Yusei said in his mind. The couple waved goodbye to them, Sherry shouting at them to have fun and to remember the place they were going, Rugarlo. Aki and Yusei waved goodbye as well and started boarding the plane.

When they got on their plane they went back a couple seats looking for their seats which thankfully were only two seats so it was just them. Yusei had never been on a plane before but Aki had gone on one when she was young and from what she could remember, it still was the same. The same beige walls, that strange airplane smell, the popped ears, all the same. Aki put her pink handbag by her seat while Yusei sat in the window seat after he put their bags in the overhead compartment. He put his backpack in front of his feet, ready in case he ever needed some distraction from the plane ride. He took his laptop out and put it on the tray table to put it on airplane mode. Yusei sighed from relief of finally getting on the plane...before remembering the plane ride will take 7-11 hours. He faked a smile to try and play off like nothing was wrong. He looked towards Aki who seemed genuinely happy to be on the plane.

But then Yusei looked at Aki's body. He was quite surprised with the outfit Aki picked. It was a pink dress with a short, loose skirt. She wore a white belt along her waist and the further he went down, he saw her ankle bracelet with a picture of a rose and her shoes were a bit like slippers but had heels at the back and with hearts around the part for your toes. The matched the color of her dress and Yusei was surprised that Aki, who normally wore black casual attire, or stuff with generally darker colors, had something so...for lack of a better term, cute? Now Yusei was no expert on fashion but he was genuinely curious.

"Say Aki, Normally I see you in clothes that are well…" Yusei tried to say without coming off as rude.

"Different than my usual stuff? I tried to find some summer clothes considering how hot Italy can be and this was all I could find, plus hey I wanted to just relax and not worry about fashion for once."

"Oh, ok, you look great in it." Aki smiled lightly at Yusei's comment, blushing faintly.

"So did you come prepared for the plane ride?" The raven haired duelist asked with the wine haired duelist nodding.

"I got that covered." Aki dug through her bag and pulled out a silver sheet with some white capsules and a bottle of water.

"A single pill will put me to sleep instantly for 7 hours, I've used it before." Yusei did a mental frown, chatting with Aki was the only way he thought he could get through this. Suddenly though, he got an idea.

"Hey can different people have those pills?" Aki read the back of the box.

"Looks like it, although you should check the back of the box." Yusei took the packet and read the back, thankfully nothing he was allergic to.

"I might take one later for this ride, but for now I think I'll live." He handed the packet back and Yusei put his laptop away for takeoff. Aki put away her phone for the takeoff as well.

For a while after taking off Aki had distracted herself from the flight by reading a book. Yusei did not pay much attention to the book and instead tried watching the inflight movie. Keyword being tried. Suddenly out of nowhere a kid started yelling. Yusei looked towards the source to see what he was yelling about, apparently the reason why is because he is whining about his ears popping. The mother tried to explain that it its normal but the kid kept crying. Aki closed her book and took a bottle of water from her handbag.

"Well I lasted an hour, good night." Aki took the pill and within minutes she was asleep. Yusei looked at the sheet, contemplating whether or not to take the pill in this situation. But then, the crying of one kid made another one or two start crying as well. Yusei took Aki's water and one of the pills and he went to sleep as well. He could barely hear the children crying after taking the medicine.

After a longtime, the raven haired duelist awoke. He noticed the kids finally stopped crying and sighed in relief. He first looked at his watch and saw that he thankfully only had to wait one last hour before they finally landed. He looked towards Aki who was still asleep. He smiled lightly at her. She looked strangely cute while she was sleeping.

Yusei gently put his hand on hers and for such a small action it felt comforting to him. Something about the warm from the rose haired duelist hand felt strangely nice to the black haired man. But that was not even the strangest part as Aki's mouth changed from the blank sleep expression to a smile. Yusei's eyes widened, thinking he woke her up. But she just sighed before whispering something that Yusei was sure he misheard.

"Yusei..."

Yusei blinked with a blank expression on his face after he heard that. Did he just hear that? He tried to think it was something else but it clearly was his own name. Yusei started to wonder why on earth would she mention his name? Was it because she knew that he was touching her hand? Or was it because of something else. Was it possible that she liked him as well? Before Yusei could think more about this another voice was heard.

"Attention passengers, we will be landing in 45 minutes so please sit tight." Said the intercom before repeating in Italian. But Aki heard it and woke up immediately with Yusei taking his hand off of hers before she noticed. She stretched her arms after sleeping for so long and looked towards her fellow duelist. She smiled lightly at him with him smiling back. Yusei thought to himself , '_Wishful thinking on my part.'_

After _finally, _getting off of the plane, Yusei and Aki made their way towards the entrance. While on the way they got their yen converted into Euros, rented a car etc., the normal things you do when you land. Luckily the book Aki read on the plane was a Japanese to Italian dictionary so she could communicate with the people at the desks. When the car was ready, they were finally able to get going to Rugarlo...for another hour long drive. Yusei grumbled to himself under his breath when he heard about how long it would take.

Yusei offered to drive and while Aki said she would considering how tired he was, Yusei insisted. When they walked outside of the airport, a brutal humid heat assaulted them. The two rushed quickly to their car to escape the boiling temperature. After running a few steps their car came into sight and went inside. Yusei booted up the car so that they can crank the AC to full blast. Aki looked at him almost as out of breath as much as he was.

"The people at the airport told me it will get cooler on the way to Rugarlo." The black haired duelist wiped the sweat off of his head while smiling at the prospect of cool air. He turned back to the front of the car and entered the address of the house they rented into the GPS. Before they left the airport, Yusei rented a small house which was available. It was small but comfortable and was cheap to rent for the week. Yusei was glad that Sherry told him about Rugarlo, his curiosity about it grew more and more.

On the drive there Aki kept looking out the side window like a child, curious of the strange world around her. The world outside the car window was indeed strange but was still beautiful in many ways. In front of her were many billboards in a language not familiar to Yusei. Also they saw many plains with various plants and crops growing. It continued until they reached the more mountainous region. Various patches of plants passed by and the roads became surprisingly winding and Aki looked away from the window so that she would not feel sick. While driving by they saw that the architecture of the buildings changed too from modern buildings to pure stone that looked like they were made a hundred years ago. When Aki looked to her left she saw a huge gap in the middle of the mountains like a crater in a volcano. In the distance, Aki could see a strange stone structure far away that looked like a castle. A look at the GPS showed that it was the town of Bardi.

"Hey Yusei, make a stop in Bardi, we need to get groceries." Yusei complied and they were on their way to Bardi.

When they arrived in the town it was late in the afternoon, bordering on night. Although the lights were dimming as well as the sun, the town still looked beautiful. The stone architecture around gave the town a pleasing, natural look to the eye. A lot of the sounds were the chatting of the townsfolk and very rarely a car passing by. The smell however was mix of good and bad as while you could smell many delicious pastries baking or delicious pizza baking, there was a strange scent of cigarettes in the air as well. Yusei sighed when he smelt it. '_There is always going to be a downside', _he thought smiling sarcastically. Aki looked around quickly and found a grocery store lower down, dragging Yusei along. When they got there Yusei was surprised to see no actual physical door. When you live in the city for so long you kind of get used to seeing glass doors on grocery stores.

Inside was a wide variety of different foods. Various meats and breads lined shelves and in the refrigerator lay many unique foods and deserts. Aki was filling her shopping bag with things to take with her such as food, drinks, sweets and more. Yusei looked around to see if he could recognize anything and on the shelves and there was nothing he could identify. However he knew that it was going to be a fun experiment trying these new things.

"I'm done!" Aki came up with bags full of groceries, Yusei taking two of them. After purchasing their goods, they walked out of the store and sat on a nearby bench. Aki dug through her bag and pulled out two strange things. A weird juice box and a wrapped up egg shaped object. The rose passed the Raven one of each of those while keeping one of each for herself.

"Well here goes nothing." Aki looked at the juice box which said "Esta The" on it. By the looks of the labeling on the side, it must have been some sort of peach drink. Aki put the straw in and drank it...and continued until it was empty.

"Oh my god that was delicious! Try it Yusei!" Yusei drank his as well and instantly understood her hype, it was the perfect amount of sweetness while not going overboard and tasted natural. The only problem was that they ran out quickly. The next item was a strange wrapped up egg sort of thing which by their guess was chocolate. On the side it said "Kinder Sorpresa." Aki unwrapped the foil and it indeed was a chocolate egg. When she put it near her mouth however, she heard something rattle. She split the egg in two and inside was a green capsule. Curiosity peaking, Aki took the capsule and opened it revealing a little statue...of herself. A little piece of paper also in the egg revealed that it was part of a set which also included Yusei, Jack and Crow.

"Oh this must have been during the WRGP I remember that Jack licensed our likenesses for this thing." Yusei broke open his egg while Aki enjoyed the chocolate of hers. Inside was a statue of himself which he held in front of his face making a goofy smile making Aki giggle. Yusei passed his chocolate over to Aki which she accepted and thanked the Raven haired duelist for.

After some more shopping they got back in the car and after a little more driving, when the sun almost set all the way, they finally arrived in Rugarlo. As they got out of the car they looked around to see how refreshing it was to be away from the city. Very few sounds were heard from the village save for the sounds of bird cries. The two duelists shifted their gazes around the village and saw the architecture around them was the same old but quaint style as they saw before. And the air was pollutant free; they filled their lungs with it and felt strangely better here than the normal city or busy town environment they were usually in. They walked slowly around, getting a feel of the town and when they went down a little pathway deeper into the town, it revealed a balcony which gave a whole view of the region they were in. The two were surprised about the village, it could almost pass for a tourist resort, but instead it was just a quiet little mountain village. It was easy to see why Sherry recommended it. While looking around on the balcony they also saw a pool down below which made them curious if it really was just a resort?

"Scusi?" They two turned around to see an elderly woman with blonde, curly hair and big glasses walk up to them. Aki walked up to her nervously.

"Parli giapponese?" Aki asked. The woman shook her head. Aki sighed to herself, '_This is going to be fun I barely speak the words necessary to get me through all of this...'_

"Parli Inglese?" Aki looked at Yusei surprised.

"Oh yes, I do, do you need something?" The woman replied her age showing in her voice but it had that sweet comforting tone to it as normally one's grandparents tend to have.

"Yes I am looking for a house that we both rented for the week? We are Yusei Fudo and Aki Izayoi?" Aki looked at them both like they were speaking gibberish.

"Ahh yes, the house is right behind you." The woman gave the two the door key and the key to the pool.

"If there is anything you need, I am in the house directly in front of you. I hope you have a wonderful time." Yusei thanked the woman and the two duelists started to climb up the steps to get inside the house.

"How do you know English?"

"I don't know, I always felt like I just naturally spoke it. Helps that Martha made me learn it back in the day." Yusei said as he unlocked the door to the house. As they carried their bags inside they spotted a couch and immediately jumped on it, falling asleep the second the landed on the cushions.

Later on the two duelists woke up, confused about how long they were asleep. Yusei looked outside the window near the couch to see that it was night and a quick look at Aki's phone which had been set for the time-zone said it was 10:50. Obviously after the plane ride they wanted to go to bed early, the two grabbed their bags and looked for a room to sleep in. Yusei took the double bed closest to the front door while Aki went downstairs to find a bedroom with a double bed that had a window overlooking the pool outside. They scoured their bags for bed-wear, too tired to bother putting the contents of the bags away properly. Aki got into her nightwear of just her bra and panties and pulled out a long beige robe just in case she needed to walk around the house at night. Yusei, meanwhile, put on a thin shirt and left his boxers on. Eventually they both got ready and did the usual routine before you go to bed finally climbed inside their beds

However, they did not fall asleep...at all. Even with the lights off, few sounds and comfortable beds, neither one of them fell asleep. Aki kept tossing and turning, trying to get to sleep, but to no avail. She began to think of reasons why but could not think of one...Until one idea finally hit her. She decided to test this theory. She put on her robe and walked up to Yusei's room.

When she opened his door, she saw he was wide awake as well with no luck getting to sleep.

"Hey Aki, can't sleep?" Aki shook her head.

"Neither can I." Yusei sighed in disappointment.

"Is it ok if I sleep with you tonight Yusei?" Yusei sat up in response to Aki's question. He was surprised but smiled and patted the spot by the bed in invitation saying "Of course" as he did.

"Thanks...umm if you don't mind I my PJs are actually just my bra and panties so if it makes you uncomfortable..." Yusei began to blush as well as Aki.

"No no no, it's fine. Don't worry about me."' Yusei looked away as Aki removed the robe. Yusei began to feel the bed shake a little as Aki climbed in. Aki put the covers over herself and turned to her right, left cheek on the pillow.

But even when Aki was with Yusei, no one was sleeping. Neither one of them could go to sleep. Aki sighed in disappointment in unison with Yusei.

"It's strange." Aki said. Yusei turned to her.

"What? That we can't fall asleep?" the red haired duelist shook her head.

"No...you see when I was really young, on every vacation we were on, I always got a little scared of the new places we were going to. Every night at the vacation spots, I slept in my parents' room so that I felt safe with them." Aki giggled at the end of her revelation. "I guess things have not changed."

"I know how you feel." Yusei said, Aki's eyes widened like a cat.

"I never been on a vacation to somewhere this faraway before. All of this is new to me." Yusei smiled to Aki after his response and blush began to appear on his face. "However..."

Yusei crawled closer to Aki and put his arms around her. The rose haired duelist was a little surprised but something about the way he held her felt...relaxing, not enough to go to sleep but still felt very warm and inviting. "I will always make sure you feel safe Aki. As long as you feel or safe or are happy then I am as well." Blush painted the girl's face.

"Yusei...thank you." The raven haired duelist sighed in relaxation knowing that she felt a bit more comfortable now as well.

"So what do you think we should do so we can get some sleep?" Aki separated from Yusei and sat up, the covers falling off revealing her black undergarments with hot pink, lace frills around the edges. The black haired duelist blushed heavily at the sight of them but tried to play it off like it was nothing. The rose continued stroking her chin for an idea before snapping her fingers.

"We could go swimming in that pool outside. We have the key."

"I don't really want to turn on the lights just to look for some swimsuits." Yusei said.

"I did not say we needed swimsuits." Yusei looked at Aki confused while sitting up. Aki began to blush and look off to her side.

"We could go swim...naked." Yusei's eyes sprang open and blush painted his face. Did he just hear that? He knew Aki was a lot more daring than a lot of the other members of team 5d's but what did she just say?

"Well I had an idea that...well when you are naked that you tend to fell free and loose, the same with swimming...So I thought if we went swimming naked we could relax...But only if you're comfortable with it." The more Yusei thought about it, the more it made sense...but right there, he felt the exact opposite of relaxed. But then his hormones began to invade his thoughts, he knew he would love to see Aki naked but the gentlemen side of him just wanted it to be a relaxing swim.

"I want to do it, it could be fun. Let's get going." They both smiled and stood up. Aki wrapped her robe around herself again and exited the house. Yusei locked the door and the two walked quickly downhill to the pool. Sadly they both neglected to take their shoes while walking down so the pebbles on the path certainly were a pain. Though their pain was short-lived as they made it to the gate of the pool. The red haired duelist unlocked the gate and the two walked down the steps towards the pool. The pool was a standard size, nothing really special about it. However as Yusei turned a crank to get the pool cover off, the two duelists noted something in the water. It was a reflection and looking up the night sky looked absolutely beautiful. Yusei walked towards Aki by the steps to get a good look at the moon above. Everything looked so clear; they could see the full moon and the stars painted the sky. With no bright lights of the city dimming the sky, it just blew their minds.

"I had never seen something like this. Growing up in the satellite, the sky was always so clouded and even in New Domino I did not see much but here it just looks gorgeous." Aki looked towards Yusei, smiling as he looked up into the sky before turning her head up towards the sky.

"So Yusei...are we going go swimming now?" Yusei looked towards Aki in surprise, completely forgetting the reason why they went outside. Aki stood up and let her robe drape off of her, revealing her bra and panties. Aki turned towards Yusei who was looking away.

"It's ok Yusei, you're going to see me naked anyways." Yusei turned back around with blush coating his cheeks. Aki while continuing to look at Yusei, unclipped her bra and took it off slowly. Yusei watched her in awe as she undressed, her breasts bouncing in freedom. Aki turned around and bended over and began to take off her panties. She removed them slowly and delicately and as she did, revealed her ass to Yusei who could not believe what was happening right in front of him. The woman he had a possible crush on was naked in front of him. The moon reflected off of Aki's skin giving her a light behind her as if she were a model at a fashion show, which Yusei thought she could easily pass for. Aki looked back towards him.

"Hey, you gotta do it too. If I am doing it, so are you." Yusei chuckled and started to undress, Aki turning around to get the full view. Yusei removed his shirt first, revealing his firm, muscular build. His tan skin fit for his muscles really well and made him look like lifeguard rather than a duelist. Aki wanted to cuddle up to that shirtless body of his...badly, but restrained herself. Then Yusei took off his boxers which Aki blushed at when he did. But when all the clothes were off Aki climbed into the pool with Yusei joining in. They swam randomly around the pool for a while, chasing each other sometimes, the normal things you would do in the pool.

Eventually the two calmed down and went towards the shallow end, standing on their feet. Yusei stared at Aki as she stood up, she just looked so beautiful in the moonlight. He chuckled at the thought that he was brave enough to get naked with Aki and go in a pool but can't tell her his feelings for her. But then he realized that maybe he could try there. The mood was right, it was a beautiful night, it felt perfect. Yusei called Aki over and she complied.

"Hey Aki...For a while..." Yusei's throat kept closing every time he spoke a word, blush was slowly appearing on his face. Aki looked at him confused. "Something wrong Yusei?"

Yusei took a deep breath._ 'It's now or never Yusei, take advantage of it!' _He thought to himself.

"Aki, it's just that...I...I really...I LOVE YOU!" Yusei shouted though not loud enough to wake up the villagers. Aki's eyes opened wide as well as her mouth while her hands covered them.

'_I didn't mean like that you idiot!' _the duelist thought to himself, looking off to the side before turning back to her, eyes closed in shame.

"Aki I'm..." Before he could answer, he felt something one his lips. He opened them to see Aki's lips were locked on his. Yusei suddenly felt calm and melted into the kiss with his eyes back to being closed. It felt so warm, his lips moving around, trying to cover Aki's entire mouth. When he opened them Aki was looking at him lustfully. "I love you too Yusei." She said to him in a whispery tone. While Yusei at first felt like he wanted to correct himself, suddenly he did not care. Suddenly he felt like he really did love her. He did not think he loved her; he felt like he really did love her and the two went back to their kiss in front of the moonlight.

After the swim, the two got dressed and went back to their bedroom. Key word being 'bedroom' as they both slept in Yusei's double bed. Aki cuddled with Yusei, head on his chest while Yusei wrapped his arms around her stomach. There was no chance of separating them and not even a chance of waking them. The two had fallen asleep in their form, the warmth from each other calming them. Both were smiling in their sleep, they had many emotions during the journey to Rugarlo, excitement, frustration, fear, and it finally ended with love.

**Meanwhile...**

A green haired woman with glasses was in her hotel room holding a picture. Inside the picture frame was her with a blonde haired man. While looking at it, a tear fell from her eye on the photo.

'_I was so naive to think this could work.'_ She thought to herself. She put the picture back in her coat, hanging by the bed. She looked to her left to see the same blonde sleeping. She sniffled looking at him.

'_I'm sorry Jack...'_

**Please follow the guidelines above when you review or comment, please. Special thanks to Scooby82101 who checked over this. Now back to 700 Days!**


End file.
